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TBHC Delivers is on a mission to eliminate fear from the workplace - and it believes it has become better for it.
The company, which operates a fleet of 73 trucks and employs 84 drivers, has implemented a fear-free work environment for its employees, meaning employees should be absent of the fear of accountability when they think of workplace safety. According to Doug Sanford, TBHC's vice president of distribution, this theory guides drivers away from hiding safety issues to instead reporting them and searching for the root of the problem.
In this type of environment, when a safety incident occurs, Sanford said a designated mentor works with employees to determine what went wrong and what could be done to prevent a repeat occurrence. The objective, he said, is to coach away the bad habits instead of dismissing them or punishing employees who might not realize there was an issue in the first place.
This policy differs from zero-tolerance policies, in which employees are first reprimanded or even terminated for their mistakes.
"If you immediately take the action of removing the person to resolve the problem, you have to hire another person who might have another set of issues," Sanford said. "We would rather fix the problem than remove the person."